Textron Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 15, 1953

107 N.L.R.B. 355 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

TEXTRON INCORPORATED 355
We shall provide for an election to be held by March 31,
1954, or on such earlier date, to be selected by the Regional
Director , as it shall appear that a substantial and representative
number of employees are then employed ' We believe that the
working force which will be employed when the election directed
herein is held , will be a substantial and representative segment
of the employees to be employed in the voting group for a
reasonable time in the future.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
2 Eligibility shall be determined by the payroll period immediately ,preceding the issuance
of a notice of election.
TEXTRON INCORPORATED and TEXTILE WORKERS UNION
OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner . Case No. 10 -RC-Z538.
December 15, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 ( c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Lloyd R.
Fraker, hearing officer . The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case , the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged, in commerce within the
meaning of the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent
certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the
meaning of Section 9 ( c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and ( 7) of the Act. 1
4. The parties are in general agreement that a unit of
production and maintenance employees is appropriate. The
Petitioner , however, would exclude, among others , the clerk
in the preparation department and the clerk in the cloth
room; the standards man and the planning clerk, whose
interests , it contends , are different from the production
and maintenance employees ; and the shipping clerk , the head
supply man , the head loom fixers, the head loom fixer in-
structors , and mechanic Bethel Duck, who, it alleges, are
supervisors .' On the other hand, it would include the shop
mechanics who serve as part-time watchmen. Except for its
'Contrary to the Employer 's contention , the fact of compliance by a labor organization
which is required to comply is a matter for administrative determination and is not litigable
by the parties . Sunbeam Corporation , 94 NLRB 844 Moreover , the Board is administratively
satisfied that the Petitioner is in compliance.
2 The parties are agreed that overseers and second hands are supervisors within the
meaning of the Act
107 NLRB No 89.
356 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
opposition to the exclusion of the head loom fixers as super-
visors, the Employer takes no position on the placement of
the specified employees.'
The clericals : The preparation department clerk keeps the
production records of the department and the time of certain
employees . The cloth room clerk tabulates the number of
yards, grade , and classification of cloth inspected in the
cloth room and prepares other records used for billing
purposes . Both employees are located in the mill and are in
continuous contact with the production employees . They are
hourly paid and, except for vacation benefits , similar to
those of the office clericals , they enjoy the same benefits
accorded to production and maintenance employees. As the
interests and working conditions of these 2 employees are
closely allied to those of the production employees , we find
that they are plant clericals who may be appropriately in-
cluded in a unit of production and maintenance employees."
The standards man: He is located in the front office and
works under the 'direct supervision of the plant manager.
His function is to check production methods and employee
work loads. He observes specific methods of production and,
when necessary , conducts time studies . Upon the basis of
his observations and studies he formulates and submits
recommendations to change methods of production or correct
inequitable workloads . Although the standards man neces-
sarily spends • a major portion of his time on the factory
floor, we find that his interests are sufficiently different
from those of the production and maintenance employees to
warrant his exclusion from the unit!
Planning clerk : Like the standards man, the planning clerk
is also under the direct supervision of the plant manager
and has his desk in the front office. His function is to record
the flow of materials in the various departments of the plant
for the purpose of enabling the Employer to plan the more
efficient operation of the mill . His reports are submitted to
the plant manager who takes the necessary remedial action
indicated thereby. As in the case of the standards man, we
find that the planning clerk has a sufficient diversity of
interests from those of the production and maintenance
employees to warrant his exclusion from the unit.
The shipping clerk : He is an hourly paid employee under
the supervision of the overseer of the preparation department.
He has three helpers to assist him in the performance of his
shipping and receiving duties. In the daily conduct of the work
of his department, the shipping clerk exercises no independent
judgment but merely transmits to the other employees in-
structions from the overseer . He has no authority to hire or
3 In accord with the apparent agreement of the parties, we will include the probationary
employees and the janitor . We will also exclude the loom fixer on loan , as it is clear that
his employment at the Employer ' s Hartwell plant is of temporary duration.
4Riverside Mills, 85 NI RB 969.
5Cf. J P. Stevens and Co., 93 NLRB 1513.
TEXTRON INCORPORATED 357
discharge or otherwise affect the employment status of the
helpers. Although the record indicates that he may make
recommendations with respect to such matters, these rec-
ommendations carry no weight other than possibly to initiate
an independent investigation by the overseer. We therefore
find that the shipping clerk is not a supervisor within the
meaning of the Act and, accordingly , we will include him in
the unit.
The head supply man : He is an hourly paid employee under
the direct supervision of the technical supervisor . Although
the supply room is operated on a 3-shift basis, the head
supply man is on duty only on the first shift. He is assisted
by 3 helpers , 1 on each shift. He has no authority to assign
work to these helpers and does not exercise any independent
judgment in the operation of his supply room. He has no
authority to affect the employment status of other employees
nor to make effective recommendations in that regard. Ac-
cordingly , we find that the head supply manis not a supervisor
within the meaning of the Act. We will include him in the unit.
The head loom fixers : The Employer has an unspecified
number of employees acting as head loom fixers. They are
skilled employees whose duties are , essentially, to assist
the approximately 21 loom fixers employed on 3 shifts with
their repair problems. Head loom fixers are hourly rated
employees and share the same benefits and other conditions
of employment as do the production and maintenance em-
ployees. They are under the supervision of the overseer
and second hand, at least 1 of whom is always on duty in
the department . Except in instances when a head loom fixer
substitutes for a second hand absent on vacation ,6 the record
does not establish that the head loom fixer has authority
responsibly to direct the work of the loom fixers, effectively
recommend disciplinary action, or exercise any other super-
visory authority. Accordingly , we find that they are not
supervisors within the meaning of the Act . We will include
them in the unit.
The loom fixer instructors: There are two loom fixer
instructors who conduct the Employer ' s loom fixer training
program. Although they devote the major portion of their
time to their duties as instructors , they also spend approxi-
mately 25 to 30 percent of their time in regular production
and maintenance work . Instruction , given mainly in the class-
room, is supplemented by practical training in the mill under
experienced loom fixers. Periodic reports on the progress
of the trainees are' submitted by the instructor . Although in
instances , where a trainee has failed to make expected
progress, a report may be accompanied by a recommendation
that the trainee be dropped from the program , this rec-
ommendation serves only to initiate an investigation by the
overseer and is not otherwise given any effective weight.
6 Wayside Press, 104 NLRB 1028; Phillips Oil Company, 91 NLRB 534.
358 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We are satisfied on the record as a whole that the loom
fixer instructors neither possess nor exercise any super-
visory authority within the meaning of the Act. Accordingly,
we will include them in the unit.?
The mechanic : Bethel Duck , whom the Petitioner would
exclude as a supervisor , is an hourly rated employee. Duck
is under the direct supervision of the master mechanic and,
in the latter ' s absence on vacation , substitutes for him.
However, except in such circumstances , Duck has no authority
to hire or discharge or otherwise affect the employment
status of the shop mechanics , nor does he have any authority
effectively to recommend such action . We therefore find
that he is not a supervisor within the meaning of the Act
and we will include him in the unit.
The watchmen : As indicated above, the Petitioner would
include an unspecified number of shop mechanics who, in
addition to their regular duties as mechanics , serve on a
rotational basis as watchmen on Saturdays and Sundays when
the plant is not in operation . As watchmen , they maintain
a fire and security watch . It is undisputed that at such times
they have the authority to keep unauthorized persons, em-
ployees included, off the Employer ' s premises . The Board
has recently held that employees who spend less than a major
part of their time as watchmen are nevertheless guards within
the meaning of the Act . 8 Accordingly , we will exclude from the
unit shop mechanics who regularly perform watchmen duties.
We find that all production and maintenance employees at
the Employer ' s Hartwell , Georgia, plant , including the prepa-
ration department clerk, the cloth room clerk, the shipping
clerk, the head supply man, the head loom fixers , the loom
fixer instructors , the probationary employees , and the plant
janitor, but excluding office clerical employees , the standards
man, the planning clerk, the temporary loom fixer , the shop
mechanics who regularly serve as watchmen , guards, pro-
fessional employees, and supervisors within the meaning of
the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of
the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
7J P. Stevens and Co. , Inc., 93 NLRB 1513
8 Walterboro Manufacturing Corporation , 106 NLRB 1383.